A PARTING WORD
Now, dear reader, that you and the writer have kept company thus far,
he is reluctant to part from you. But if you perceive within you the
germ of a vocation, he begs you not to crush it. If in your heart
there is a spark of that celestial fire, which may be fanned to a
consuming flame of divine love, keep it burning.
Preserve your soul, oh! so perfectly from the slightest touch of evil,
remembering that the least deliberate venial sin stains it more than
we can comprehend. Above all, cherish holy purity, that exquisite
ornament of youth, which, like a polished gem, may so easily lose its
lustre. Guard the avenues of your soul, your sight and hearing and the
other senses, through which contamination from without is always
seeking to enter and defile the beauty of God's handiwork. About us is
an atmosphere of worldliness, which we imperceptibly breathe in from
the words of companions, from the printed page, and the example of the
careless. Shun companionship with the frivolous, vanity of dress, and
that indiscriminate reading which only feeds an idle curiosity. The
theatres of our day are especially dangerous to virtue, and he who
stays away from them entirely, will consult his own advantage, as well
as please God.
In this soft and luxurious age the popular trend is to
self-gratification in all its forms. But the true Christian must ever
strive against corrupt nature, if he would not be carried away by the
stream of voluptuousness. Self-denial is the watchword of
Christianity. All are called to the practice of penance in some shape
or form, the best usually being the exact performance of duty. The
young of school age will find a strong shelter from temptation in the
scrupulous and enthusiastic performance of their daily tasks and
lessons. That small boy had caught the true spirit, who used to rise
early, to prepare himself, as he said, for the "missionary" life, to
which he aspired.
A material help for boys to prepare for future life, is to serve at
the altar. He who sacrifices his morning sleep, overcoming sloth, to
minister to the priest at Mass, is already, by a privilege, fulfilling
the functions of one of the minor orders, that of the acolyte. The
devout server at Mass shares in its graces next to the celebrant, and
more than the ordinary faithful who assist at it; and many an
altar-boy, as he glided about the sanctuary, mingling with the
invisible angels who hovered around the Victim of sacrifice, has felt
the seeds of vocation sprouting in his soul.
Devotion to the Mother of God should also be a characteristic of
youth. She sympathizes with us, as only a mother can, in all our
difficulties and trials. She fully appreciates what we have to contend
with, she sees our weakness, the strength of our passions, the
temptations we encounter, and she is eager to throw about us the
mantle of her protection, if we will only ask her. Never a day should
pass without our commending ourselves earnestly to her motherly heart,
for she is even more interested in our welfare than we ourselves. She
is powerful to aid us, since all good things come to us through her;
and she will choose for her devout clients the career in which they
may best serve God.
By a strange perversion of mind, we often seek to unravel the
perplexities of life, without recourse to prayer. When involved in
business anxieties, men spend days of worry in wrestling with them,
without perhaps asking the Father of Lights for guidance. And the
young also, who must settle for themselves their future career,
frequently strive to do so, without the help of heaven. They perhaps
consult human advisers, but fail to consult God, the best of
counsellors, Who alone can see behind the veil of the future, and
infallibly tell what is best for us.
In coming to any important decision, light and strength are needed,
light to know the pathway of duty, and strength to follow it. On
account of the obscurities and half-lights of our intellect, we
perceive but dimly, and often fail to discern the true from the false.
The illumination of the white light of Truth is needed to flood the
dark recesses of the mind. And even when the truth stands clearly
revealed, we are often too indolent or enervated to embrace it; we
need the tonic of resolution and courage, which can be infused into us
only from on high.
The trustful child of God should, day by day, commend his future into
the hands of his heavenly Father, praying Him to shape his life and
career. Each one has his own talents, one or many, but he cannot hope
to trade or barter with them in a fruitful way unless the Giver of
them bless his efforts. Our constant prayer, then, should be for the
fulfilment of God's will in our regard, with the lively faith that
whatever we ask will be granted.
And of all prayers and devotions, can any be more efficacious or
salutary than the frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist? Our Holy
Father, Pius X, desires the boys and girls of the whole world to be
nourished daily, from the tenderest years, with the Bread of Life,
that they may wax strong in the spiritual life, and grow up virile
Christians. One Holy Communion, received fervently, should be
sufficient to sanctify a soul and awake in it the desire of closest
union with Christ, of self-immolation on the altar of Divine Love.
Then what of the soul which is daily nourished with the "Wheat of the
Elect and the Wine that springeth forth Virgins?" (Zach. ix: 17.) Holy
Communion has been styled the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb," wherein
Christ caresses the soul, communicates to it sweetest secrets, and
touching it with the ardent flames of His own Heart, purifies it from
attachment to creatures, and sets it aglow with the white heat of
charity. The frequent communicant, then, is surest of knowing and
doing God's will.
In conclusion, the writer may be allowed to indulge the hope that more
than one reader may be impelled to aspire to the virgin's aureole, the
special privilege of joining the one hundred and forty-four thousand,
whom St. John, in the vision of the Apocalypse, saw following the
Lamb, whithersoever He went, and singing a canticle that none else
could sing, "because they were virgins."
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Go now, little book, fly away to some perplexed soul who is anxious to
discover the secrets of the Divine Will; and whisper it a message of
peace and consolation, telling it that, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath
prepared for them that love Him." (I Cor. ii: 9.)
PRAYER FOR THE RIGHT CHOICE OF A STATE OF LIFE.
O Thou, the God of wisdom and counsel, Who dost perceive in my heart a
sincere desire of pleasing Thee alone, and of conforming myself
entirely to Thy most holy will in the choice of my state of life,
grant me, I beseech Thee, through the intercession of the Blessed
Virgin, my mother, and of my patron saints, especially St. Joseph and
St. Aloysius, the grace to know what state of life I should choose,
and when known to embrace it, so that I may seek and spread therein
Thy glory, work out my salvation, and merit that reward in heaven
which Thou hast promised to those who fulfill Thy divine will. Amen.
----
An indulgence of three hundred days, once a day, for the above prayer,
granted by Pope Pius X, May 2, 1905.
THE FRANK MEANY CO., PRINTERS, INC., NEW YORK
End of Project Gutenberg's What Shall I Be?, by Rev. Francis Cassily